For today’s TTOC, I was placed at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary with a science 10 class and 2 physics 11 class.  My first initial reaction was excited because I was placed back at Churchill where I had done my short-term practicum.  Therefore, I didn’t feel as comfortable because I knew several teachers at the school.  However, my anxiety level did increase because of the idea of teaching physics 11 which is not my science subject area. 

           

            The day of the TTOC, I arrived at the school half an hour before the first block began.  I followed protocol by going into the office where they handed me a couple of keys, a map of the school, and a breakdown of what I was supposed to teach, grade, and which classrooms to go to.  I immediately go to the class to locate the TTOC notes.  I was glad to see that the student teacher left me with very detailed notes and a well-planned lesson for all the classes.  In addition, I was also glad that I had prep for the first block.  Therefore, I stayed in the staffroom where I could go through the slides, go through the example questions, and answer them myself so by the time I had to teach tem I know how to get to the answer.  First problem that I encountered was that the USB provided with the PowerPoints was not formatted to my laptop.  Therefore, I decided to use the schools’ laptop to transfer the files on to my own USB.  Therefore, my first big AHA moment was, always be prepared by bringing your own materials such as a USB.  If I didn’t have a USB then there was no way I would’ve been able to review the PowerPoint.  This AHA moment also appeared later during the lessons where none of the markers in the class were working.  I was glad I brought 2 of my own.  I would imagine that if I didn’t bring my own supplies it would completely throw me off and would make me anxious even more. 

 

            Second block was the grade 10 who were learning about space.  Again, another topic I knew nothing about.  However, I went into it with a lot of enthusiasm because I knew that this was my strengths and helps with classroom management and getting to know the students.  I stood at the door saying hi to the students as they came in.  I was glad to see familiar faces since I taught PE at the school last school year.  My second AHA moment occurred in this class, which is to just be honest with yourself and with your students.  If you don’t know the answer to something simply say I don’t know.  There were a couple of questions that came up and my response was “that is a great question, let’s write it down so Mr. S can go over it next class”.  In addition, student involvement, a way to answer questions.  Don’t just rely on yourself or google, as the class what they think the answer is to the question.   

 

            For blocks 2 and 3, were the blocks I was most fearful about.  However, it was the most exciting.  I did a physics demo which the students really enjoyed and used this along with questioning to introduce the topic we were going to cover for the day.  My third AHA moment was, always get students involved.  They can potentially know more than what we expect.  I was lucky enough to be strong at questioning students to get to a learning target, and by the end of the day the students were really the ones teaching themselves.  Therefore, creating a collaborative environment especially in a TTOC setting where you are new to the space, you are new to the content, it is great to get students involved.  Get them to talk about what they have been learning, I got them to talk about predictions before the demo, and describe their observation and based on their observation what they think Newton’s third law was.  I did not even have to answer it because the students answered for me.  Therefore, rely on your students, look for them for guidance, because it will not only place the responsibility on them to take ownership of their own learning, but it can also be a way to start creating positive interactions and relationships with the students. 

 

            As a conclusion, I really enjoyed the TTOC day.  It was especially nice to see a different environment, and experience a whole new set of students.  Today was my first time experiencing teaching a physics 11 class which I am proud of that I was able to do a decent job in presenting the information and getting to know the students even in a short amount of time.